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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24397417">A Solid Mass of Heaven</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/windshowling/pseuds/windshowling'>windshowling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Timelines, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Major Character Undeath, Multiverse, tbh i'm just vibing out here</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:47:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,155</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24397417</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/windshowling/pseuds/windshowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aerith Gainsborough and Tifa Lockhart are SOLDIERs who have just fought their way out of hell to be free from Shinra. Together in Midgar, Tifa searches for mercenary work as Aerith tries to heal, body and soul. But there seems to be something sinister causing Aerith's fractured memory, and Tifa's mercenary work keeps coming up short: until she gets a one-time gig with a local AVALANCHE cell. Soon, the pair are more attached to Midgar than they would like to be -- and drawing ever closer to facing their feelings for one another.<br/>All of their pasts, remembered and forgotten, won't seem to let them go.</p><p>A lot of role reversal, a little bit of Remake-style multiverse.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Solid Mass of Heaven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <em>He swells.<br/>I am his balloonist<br/>balancing an azimuth</em>
  <br/>
  <em>as earth-apse I<br/>orbit, robed in<br/>hot gas &amp; leather</em>
</p><p>  <em>fastened by a yolk-stalk<br/>of gravity to gold-<br/>end onions nozzling heavens</em></p><p><em>whose suns are stomachs<br/>with churches in their navels.</em><br/>- Peter O'Leary, <em>Luminous Great Mass</em></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m not letting you go without me!” Aerith staggered even as she said it, felt the pull against the muscles of her core around her recently healed wounds. Even materia couldn’t completely fix aches that deep. “Not again. Not after everything.” </p><p>Tifa hefted her sword up onto her back, the muscles of her exposed arms flexing as she lifted it.<em>Don’t focus on that,</em> Aerith had to remind herself. <em>This is more important.</em> </p><p>“Aerith, you’re still not well.” Tifa always had that kind, caring tone in her voice. It was only right now that Aerith took it as condescension. “A week ago you hardly even knew your own name.” </p><p>That was an understatement, and perhaps a kindness. Aerith knew that only a week ago, she had been babbling nonsense, about the planet, the Lifestream, anything within grasp as she swam in and out of lucidity. And, one week ago, Tifa had still been hauling her semiconscious body across the desert. She had been as good as dead then, but Tifa had refused to give up on her. </p><p>So Aerith refused to turn her back on her now. </p><p>“I can’t just sit here for another night. I’m bored out of my mind. And I owe you.” </p><p>Tifa’s face twisted, almost in pain. “You don’t owe me anything.”</p><p>“Only my life! And everything we’ve had since we’ve been here! You found the apartment, you’ve been out busting your ass in the slums — I’m pretty sure you were feeding me for a while there. And thanks to your attentive hands, I’m more than ready to get out and make it up to you.” </p><p>Tifa was unyielding. She didn’t even raise her voice to talk Aerith down: simply batted her away with the back of a gloved hand. “No. I’m not letting you open yourself up to getting hurt again.” </p><p>“But —“ </p><p>“Have the migraines stopped yet?” There it was — that anger that Aerith knew Tifa kept shoved deep down in her gut, that she only let bubble up on special occasions. She recognized that flash in her eyes. “Can you tell me what you saw when you were screaming a stranger’s name, over and over again?” </p><p>Tifa didn’t wait for an answer. She flung the door of their tiny tin-can apartment open and stepped out onto the walk. The only thing that stilled her was the sound of Aerith’s sword clicking into the holster on her back, identical to Tifa’s. Both of them would know that sound anywhere. </p><p>“If you don’t let me come with you now, I’ll just follow.” Aerith knew when her voice had taken on that childlike pleading, but she didn’t stop herself. “I”ll just make problems for you later. All kinds of problems.” </p><p>Even though she couldn’t see her face, Aerith could reconstruct the exact way that Tifa squeezed her eyes shut from the way she heard her suck her breath in through her teeth.  </p><p>“If you slow me down — “</p><p>“I won’t! You know you could do the job on your own. And that I know better than to get between you and a foe.” Aerith bounded forward to jostle a place besides Tifa in the doorway. “Besides, the safest place for me is right behind you.” </p><p>Tifa had to tilt her head back to meet Aerith’s gaze. She was tired; before everything went to hell, Aerith had never noticed the bags under her eyes, or the sink at the edges of her mouth. Maybe neither of those things had ever been there until now. There was still that luminous sheen that both of their eyes shared: the mako-bright light from within that no SOLDIER could hide. </p><p>“I mean that you don’t owe me a thing. You get that, right? I… I’d do it again, if you needed me to.” </p><p>“But you’ll never need to.” Aerith ventured a smile, the kind that she knew might tease a joke out of Tifa. “From here on out, I’ll do the protecting around here. I’ll carry you back here if you get tired, even.” </p><p>All she got in return was a half-smirk before Tifa closed the door behind them and started down the stairs. Aerith lingered on the balcony for just a moment. The lights of the undercity were warm, even where they shone out from the filth and grime. After a week of bedrest, her legs were weak under her, but her first lungful of (comparatively) fresh air kept her strong. She felt warm, just thinking about the whole city and all of its night stretched out and waiting for her. </p><p>“Hey, uh, Tifa?”</p><p>Tifa turned from the ground level to look up at Aerith, leaning down over the railing. </p><p>“Mind telling me what the job is?” </p><p>  ———</p><p>Aerith crouched in the steam of the decelerating train, watching the wind blow through Tifa’s hair as the metal screeched and groaned beneath them. Above, the reactor belched the remains of the mako up into the sky. Little particles created a second starfield, in the same place the true stars were obscured by the city’s artificial light. </p><p><em>For something so awful, it’s really beautiful,</em> she thought to herself. She had already heard one of Barret’s lectures on the evils of mako reaction on the way topside. Something told her it wouldn’t be her last, one-time gig or not. </p><p>The train came to a final halt; just as predicted, two Shinra guards waited at the edge of the gate. Aerith saw Tifa’s shoulders stiffen under her sword; some memory of that last stand, Aerith guessed. Maybe one of the advantages about almost being dead was that she didn’t carry the weight that Tifa did. But she carried other things.</p><p>The guards began their inspection of the train, right on schedule. When the second was distracted, the first was effectively dispatched by Wedge (the friendly one, in her silent categorization). Biggs (the beefsteak) grabbed the second from behind, and Jessie (the flirt — maybe the pretty one, if she was feeling generous and Tifa wasn’t standing next to her) delivered a powerful strike to their ribs. The guards were down before they knew what had happened. </p><p>“Hey! Get down here!” </p><p>(Barret was the one in command. The preachy one, too. Either worked.)</p><p>Tifa took first heed: she unsheathed her sword to keep her balance and jumped, swinging out the giant weapon beside her. Aerith used the flashy jump as cover to take a modest vault down the side of the train, half-sliding against the smooth metal. She landed behind Tifa with a hand against the hilt of her own sword, out of some sense of obligation. Tifa always did have just the tiniest flare for the dramatic.</p><p>Barret looked them up and down for a moment before turning back to his team. There was already a flurry of activity rising out of the platform’s steam. Biggs and Jessie worked the terminal to the front gate, busied but chatting like they were old friends. At their approach, Tifa in the lead, Wedge almost spoke up, only to be trampled over by Jessie. </p><p>“I didn’t think SOLDIER girls came in pairs.” Her voice was chipper, and she threw a little glance over her shoulder to look Tifa over from toe-tip to sword handle. “Didn’t think they would be so easy on the eyes, either.” </p><p>“Jessie,” Biggs scolded. He tossed a half-shrug Aerith’s direction. Guess Jessie was just something to get used to. She could see Tifa’s fiery blush from the corner of her eyes, though. </p><p>“Ex-SOLDIER girls,” Tifa reminded them, stiffly and loudly. “And we’re just here for this one mission.”</p><p>Barret stepped forward. Next to Tifa, he seemed to tower. Tifa held her own, like always, but Aerith wasn’t looking to find out how that gun-arm handled in battle prematurely. “You’ll get your gil,” he reminded them. “But you could make yourself useful and tell us about the reactor layout in the meantime.” </p><p>Tifa was bristling at the talk of money, so Aerith stepped forward, though she got the feeling her tone wasn’t exactly welcome. “Hard to say, really! It all depends on when it was built. Not sure Teef or I have seen one like this before.”</p><p>Wedge perked up. “That’s a great nickname! My name’s not really long enough for a nickname, so —"</p><p>The door clicked open, and Tifa was the first one through. She bumped against Wedge on her way past him. Aerith smiled as best she could as she followed. “Maybe just stick to calling her Tifa for now, yeah?” </p><p>After meeting Tifa in the cover of a concrete pillar, Barret took point, the three Avalanche members skittering behind him. Tifa shot Aerith her classic “watch-it” glance: Aerith only smiled back. </p><p>This would be interesting. </p><p>At the first sight of more guards, Avalanche split off and maneuvered past, leaving Tifa and Aerith to deal alone. Jessie’s voice chimed, “you’re up!” as she vaulted over a turnstile. The sound of their two swords, practically identical and unsheathed in tandem, filled the room around them, drowning out the approaching boots of Shinra guards. </p><p>“You ready?” Aerith swung her sword experimentally. It would do. </p><p>“Just be careful.” Tifa was grounded, as she always was. Sword out, shoulders back, focus completely on the task ahead.</p><p>“Sure. We’ll make it quick.” Aerith swiveled until she was back to back with Tifa. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint Jessie, huh?”</p><p>“What? Aerith —"</p><p>The first shots rang cold and clear against the flat of Aerith’s blade. Before she could attack in return, Tifa was already gone and away. </p><p>The two of them had been fighting together a long time. Aerith didn’t expect surprises from a routine mission, not anymore. But she had forgotten how good it felt to be back to back with Tifa, protected, knowing just when to surge forward and when to fall back. It was understanding. Completeness. The old routine of the tide drawing forward and back from the shore. Aerith fell into Tifa’s gravity, now more than ever, and let herself enjoy the flow of it.</p><p>They were vaulting over the turnstiles and following after Avalanche in a matter of seconds. The next few rooms were the same: quick work, while Biggs and Jessie unlocked the next door and Barret kept watch. Every so often, she or Tifa would get a particularly showy hit, and she could feel their eyes on them. Silently, she would have been casting bets about who would speak up first. Of course, she’d never take odds like that. She’d seen the way Jessie looked at her when she misjudged Aerith’s notice.</p><p>Jessie finally caught up to her in front of the elevator doors. Aerith wasn’t one to freak out over personal space, but Jessie got close enough that Aerith could smell her perfume under the grease she used to keep her armor clean, and the crackle of explosives. “So…..” Jessie poked at Aerith’s shoulder. “Are you and Zack, like….” She wiggled her eyebrows. </p><p>Aerith played dumb. “Like, what?”</p><p>“Are you… close?” </p><p>Aerith shrugged. “Old friends from home.” </p><p>It was the truth, and all of it. She hadn’t known about the Avalanche stuff until Tifa filled her in, and it didn’t register as a surprise or a characteristic thing for him to be doing. Zach was the neighbor boy that played with her in the dust of their washed-up town all those years ago, who just happened to be in Midgar at the same time as her. Nothing about him was of note beyond a certain remembered sentimentality, and maybe the promise that she only half remembered. </p><p>Something pressed at the edge of her memory. Like static.  Aerith brought her hand to rest at her forehead. What was it? <em>What was it?</em></p><p>The door slid open, and Barret and Tifa headed in around them. Jessie looked concerned. “Hey, you ok? C’mon.” </p><p>Tifa caught her eye from the edge of the elevator. Aerith shook her head: not now. Maybe they could talk later. Now, Barret had the floor. Aerith zoned out, half willfully and half shaken from her memory. When she had recovered, Barret had his arms out wide. </p><p>“Can’t you hear it? The planet, screaming out in pain?”</p><p>Relative silence, even from Jessie. But there was a look on Tifa’s face that jogged Aerith’s memory, though in the exact wrong direction. </p><p>“You knew someone like that once, right, Tifa? Someone who was into all this planet stuff?” </p><p>“<em>Planet stuff?</em> You realize this whole mission is hinging on —“</p><p>The doors clattered open. Jessie seized the opportunity to extricate herself from the situation. Tifa’s “watch-it” glare had escalated significantly. </p><p>“Listen to Barret. And keep your head in the mission.” When Barret turned, Tifa got close enough to add, “Tone it down. You’re starting to make me anxious.” </p><p>“I thought I always made you anxious.” </p><p>“… Let’s just finish the job.”</p><p>———</p><p>“Let’s see if the Shinra dogs really can bite the hand that feeds.”</p><p>The air reeked of mako. Around Barret’s outstretched hand and the bomb nestled in his palm, little flecks of green light drifted like dust motes on a summer afternoon. Aerith knew better than to get caught up in their flight patterns. It all seemed so familiar, but chasing her thoughts down that rabbit hole had almost sent her steps into Barret’s line of fire minutes earlier. </p><p>Tifa was hesitating. It was there again: the tightness in her shoulders, the curling inward. Aerith had other things on her mind, but she understood how much all of this was reminding Tifa of their past, down to that indescribable mako reek that could only just cover the acrid smell of gas and steel. </p><p><em>My turn,</em> she thought.</p><p>Aerith felt that hurt, curled up in that same deep, ugly place that it slept within Tifa, and tapped into it in the way Barret was asking her to. And, <em>god,</em> it felt good. </p><p>“I’m no Shinra <em>bitch.</em>” Aerith ripped the bomb from his hand, and noted the smallest uptick of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “Not anymore.” </p><p>She clicked the buttons of the bomb, as sure as if she had blasted a hundred reactors before, and set the timer. Twenty minutes.</p><p>Barret raised an eyebrow out from under his glasses. “Cocky, huh?” </p><p>“Just sure that we can get it done.” Aerith turned, smiled sweetly. “Unless you think otherwise?”</p><p>Tifa shouted. “Aerith! Up there!”</p><p>Another Shinra contraption, this one with a nasty laser on a scorpion’s tail. Nothing they couldn’t handle. They were back to it in lockstep, delivering shattering blows together, crouching together, shielding together, with the consistent drumming of Barret’s gunfire to back them up. </p><p>It was all going fine, until they damaged it enough that it lost control. The laser swung wildly, sending debris down from the roof, slicing through support beams, and swinging close enough to the reactor to set the timer moving. Turning from the reactor, it swung low — and spun in a slow-motion arc, the white-hot trail it made in the walls and pillars around drawing closer and closer to her. But she was struck still, boots made of lead, as she stared down at a single black feather, drifting lazily down among all the agitated mako to rest, unremarkable, in the debris. </p><p>Tifa slammed into her side, right where a bruised rib or a pulled muscle had started to scream in protest hours ago. They fell to the floor together, Aerith’s sword clattering out beside them as the  laser passed harmlessly overhead.</p><p>At least the thing was nice enough to explode, once it had done that.</p><p>Aerith watched the explosion as a halo around Tifa’s head. Her ears were ringing, even as Tifa’s lips moved with frantic words. So pretty, even now, with her hair tied up in the way she usually hated, with sweat and gunk slipping down into her mako-tinted eyes. </p><p>Aerith shook her head, the noise (external and internal) subsiding enough for her to hear Barret rushing up the ladder.</p><p>“We’re on the clock! Get the fuck over here!”</p><p>Aerith pushed Tifa away and got up. Every muscle was screaming, even through the battle-adrenaline that could usually push protestation aside. She picked up the sword and got on with it. There was nothing else left to do. At the base of the ladder, she pretended she didn’t feel Tifa's hands over her own, helping her guide the weight of her sword into its holster. </p><p>It was a mad rush through fire and debris, and Aerith refused to look back. Soon, Jessie rendezvoused with them, and just as soon, another rain of concrete came careening down toward the catwalk. Aerith and Barret lunged forward; Tifa spun just in time to get away, now separated from the other two by a considerable hunk of ceiling. Jessie’s leg was caught under another piece, and from the way she was screaming, it didn’t look good. </p><p>“I’ve got her! Just go!”</p><p>“No! Tifa —“ </p><p>“Now! We’ll meet up at the elevator!” Tifa was already lifting, but she spared one panicked glance for Aerith. There was nothing she could do but follow Barret. </p><p>The rest came in flashes of sensations: her finger jamming into the elevator button until Barret put a heavy hand on her shoulder to pull her back; Tifa jutting up against her in the close quarters, clumsy with Jessie’s shared weight; the first lungful of mako-less air, tainted only by the bits that hung on their clothes. It was all she could do to keep from thinking about what she had seen on the reactor floor. As she moved, her field of vision was tinged with noise, visual static. It was all she could do to keep standing. </p><p>She came back to herself and her usual perception in some broken-down alley, shaken with the aftershocks of what could only have been their explosion. </p><p>“Holy shit,” Jessie murmured. She had put her weight back on two feet to steady herself against the quaking, but her arm was still looped around Tifa. “<em>Holy shit.</em>” </p><p>“Your bomb did that?!” Wedge was incredulous. “Geez, Jessie! Go easy next time.”</p><p>“I… I don’t -“ </p><p>“C’mon. Let’s get moving.” Barret looked back. “Jessie, walk on your own and leave that SOLDIER alone.” </p><p>Before either of them could speak up, Jessie chimed, “Ex-SOLDIER!” She gave Tifa one last bump before she was on her way, shimmying between a few slabs of concrete after Barret. </p><p>Aerith clutched at her side, every limb throbbing. Wedge’s words were clattering around in her skull. <em>Next time.</em> They landed with a dull thunk down into indifference, along with everything else.</p><p>Before Tifa could mother her, Aerith pushed her hand aside. “Let’s just go. I need some air.” The sword on her back was heavy, but she squared her shoulders to carry it. Without words, she felt Tifa willing to carry it for her, even if her arms were twice as tired or her wounds twice as deep. That willingness had its own weight.</p><p>Aerith turned and started down the passageway.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><em>Groan thru breast and neck, a great Oh! to earth heart<br/>Calling our Presence together<br/>The great secret is no secret<br/>Senses fit the winds,<br/>Visible is visible</em><br/>- Allen Ginsberg, <em>Wales Visitation</em></p></blockquote></div></div>
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